country-pop | Musicosity

The Hornstars

There are many words that could be used to describe Melbourne band The Hornstars. Funky. Danceable. Loud. Quirky (have you seen that video?). But above all else, the Hornstars are all about fun, and their primary mission is to show their audience a funky good time.

The Hornstars sound is big, brassy and hard to pigeonhole. The lineup featuring Clancy Cullen (vocals), Daniel Bardan (trumpet), Bruce Cousins (trombone), Russell B Myers (tenor sax), Joey Mount (drums), Mike Holloway (bass), Peter Bonett (keys), Gareth Durant (guitar) and Eric Morand (alto sax and percussion) bring a wide range of influences to the mix. Jazz, soul reggae - it may not all be funk as we know it, but it is definitely funky.

The Hornstars formed in 2016, legend has it, after founding members were kicked out of their ska band for allegedly being “too funky”. What came next was inevitable. The band quickly recruited their 9-piece lineup and confected a set of catchy and danceable songs, which they took to the pubs and bars of Melbourne and beyond, and eventually released as their debut album in March 2020.

During the COVID-enforced hiatus, band members continued to write, getting together when restrictions allowed. The band’s song writing continued to evolve, sometimes reflecting what was going on in the world outside (witness the hard funk grooves of "No Gigs" and "Half Way There"), and at others expressing aspirations for brighter post-pandemic future ("Touch", "Say Goodbye"). Occasionally emerging between lockdowns in 2021, the Hornstars were greeted with an enthusiastic reception and sold out shows.

With their second album Half Way There released in August this year, the Hornstars are looking forward to playing more live shows in 2022 and beyond. And while we are still living in uncertain times, here is one thing to be sure of - The Hornstars are still having fun in 2022, and so should you.

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BOWEN YOUNG

With haunting and ethereal songs that masterfully delve into the depths of ferocious love, heartbreaking loss and steadfast hope, the debut album, Us, by new duo BOWEN * YOUNG unveils a unique style of music the couple has dubbed “Cinematic Americana.”

BOWEN * YOUNG’s timeless debut record created by Clare Bowen and husband Brandon Robert Young is a multi-sensory feast. The music, produced by Sean McConnell, invokes themes painted by the duo’s powerfully authentic lyrics and hypnotic harmonies.

Clare, the charismatic actress who played Scarlett O’Connor in the popular show Nashville, is known as a ray of sunshine around the world. She is an empath who leads with her heart, able to communicate and translate emotions whether on stage or screen.

Born in rural Australia, she moved to Music City in 2012 for the Nashville role and immediately earned respect from the city’s musical leaders. She has performed with artists such as Vince Gill, Zac Brown Band, working with Grammy Award winning producers/songwriters T-Bone Burnett, Colin Linden and Buddy Miller, who became her mentors.

She toured her eponymous album for sold-out crowds with Brandon in Germany, Australia, the US and UK. The pair also earned a coveted spot on Sugarland’s popular “Still the Same Tour” and toured live with the Nashville cast, selling out London’s O2 Arena.

Brandon, who began singing at age five under the gentle guidance of his mother, had a very different upbringing and path to Nashville. In 2000, he moved from Enfield, CT, to Nashville, where he taught himself to play guitar. He worked as a courier during the day and spent his nights filling empty composition books with song after song.

He spent a decade touring with music legend John Hiatt, first as percussionist and background vocalist and eventually becoming one third of The John Hiatt Trio. He worked on three of the famed artist’s albums, the last of which was nominated for a Grammy in the Americana category.

Brandon has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning artists Emmylou Harris, Colin Linden, and Mikky Ekko. Young was also invited by John Carter Cash to finish one of his father’s unpublished works for Johnny Cash Forever Words. Brandon’s music has been heard in shows such as Shameless. A Million Little Things, and Nashville.

It was serendipity that brought BOWEN * YOUNG together in 2013, when Brandon was a last-minute replacement for Clare’s no-show duet partner for her first solo set at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. They immediately discovered they had wonderful chemistry both onstage and off. Brandon proposed to Clare at the Ryman Auditorium during the couple’s Grand Ole Opry set in 2015. They were married by John Carter Cash at the Cash Cabin in 2017.

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Jess Shulman

Jess Shulman is Sad Stevie Nicks/alt-country-pop. this page isn't active - it's purely for uploading gigs.

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country-pop

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Scott Darlow

Melbourne-based Yorta Yorta artist Scott Darlow uses his new single ‘Deadly Heart’ to explore the Nation’s ability to really walk as one with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A duet with The Jezabels’ Hayley Mary, the new single asks tough questions interested the how you elicit change to work towards a stronger and united future while remembering an important past.

Darlow grew up abroad as his father travelled for work, but this unconventional childhood gave him an insight into always being the outsider. This unique perspective has fed into his music which often explores the complexities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations.

“Deadly Heart is something I tried to write that’s parallel and horizontal simultaneously. On the one hand, it’s about a couple just trying to stay together. But it's also about a nation that’s trying to come together. I wrote it through the pandemic, about us as a nation continuing to journey together and listen to each other. To sit and listen to each other's stories, so they can become our stories.”

Darlow says he creates music for his family and his community.

“It sounds silly, but I'm just trying to be the best version of myself that I can be every day. But you know, every day I get up and I want to make a difference for Aboriginal people in everything that I do. I know that sounds cliched, but it's just the truth of it. What can I do next week to make a difference? If I can do that through my music and someone takes away a better understanding of what I’m trying to get across, that’s what it’s about for me. “

For over a decade, Darlow has been a mainstay of Australia’s Indigenous and Independent music industry. His versatility as a singer-songwriter, guitarist, yidaki player and authentic storyteller has made him a fan favourite worldwide. So far, his career has included being the

opening act for Jimmy Barnes and Eskimo Joe, his previous albums selling more than 50,000 worldwide and being added nationally to rock radio multiple times.He was the first act signed to the late Michael Gudinski’s new record label Reclusive Records and with his first album from this new partnership due later this year, 2023 is going to solidify his position as an artist with something to say.

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Country Rock

country-pop

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Joni Mitchell

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her starkly personal lyrics and unconventional compositions, which grew to incorporate pop and jazz influences.[1] She has received many accolades, including ten Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever",[2] and AllMusic has stated, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".[1]

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968.[3] Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[4] rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition.[5] In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music".[6] NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made By Women.[7]

Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris"[8] and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975.[9][10][11] Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings.[12] She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002[13] and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.[14]

Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".

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ASTON

Inspired by pop’s strongest women but brazenly forging her own path, ASTON continually empowers through her music. The Australian pop-powerhouse and CEO of The Bad Bitch Policy has built a global following for her un-filtered, fierce & punk ethos towards pop music.

After gaining recognition online by interpolating male-written songs from a female perspective, ASTON soon built a global community of listeners who were mutually empowered through her music - known as The Bad Bitch Policy. The release of her 2023 single Mama Didn’t Raise No gained notable virality and accelerated ASTON into a Marvel feature, international tours, and support from the likes of iHeart Radio and SXSW.

“I use my past experiences to create motivation for my future self. Most of the songs I write have underlying lessons. I want people to feel confident in every part of their life whether that’s going for what they want or being okay with making mistakes. That’s why I’m really excited to share The Bad Bitch Policy and carve out a space for people to grow.”

2024 sees ASTON begin the rollout to her Sophomore project - the accumulation of her most honest & powerful work to date.

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country-pop

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Woody Pitney

With a career spanning more than a decade, Woody Pitney is already an established name in the world of music. Despite his amazing journey so far, his future burns brighter than ever!

Not to be mistaken for the lovechild of Woody Guthrie and Gene Pitney, the Australian Country/ Pop/Folk Singer-Songwriter has performed at festivals and toured extensively across Europe, Asia, USA and Australia, as well as achieved mainstream recognition on both a local and international scale in the past.

Having previously been signed to a major label after his song ‘Your Can Stay’ was synced on a major German TV

commercial, Woody was thrust into a world of big-scale live performances, media appearances and developing international business relations; “I had to learn a lot on the job at a young age, and the experience was invaluable for me... it helped me mature so much musically. I like to think that I more than held my own too!” Having previously been signed to a major label after his song ‘Your Can Stay’ was synced on a major German TV commercial, Woody was thrust into a world of big-scale live performances, media appearances and developing international business relations; “I had to learn a lot on the job at a young age, and the experience was invaluable for me... it helped me mature so much musically. I like to think that I more than held my own too!”

Nowadays, fully independent again, Woody’s focus is to make big waves on the Australian Country Music scene. With a swag of new songs that see him back in control of his own destiny, Woody is recharged and reinvigorated; “I feel like the shackles have been released after the past few Pandemic years, and I can really focus again on doing what I love; making country music!”

The self-confessed “half city, half country boy” divides his time between living in the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, as well as devoting his time to working on his family vineyard and making music in Mandurang - a small town South of Bendigo that is considered the literal geographical centre of Victoria.

Recently working on new releases with Nashville-based producer, Austin Moorhead (Carly Pearce, Maddy & Tae), Woody has been able to adapt the the modern world of remote collaboration, working on his projects between his home studio in country Victoria and Austin’s Tennessee studio.

A vivacious live performer, Woody is known for putting on highly engaging performances (not excluding stage dives and a lot of audience interaction) and has the ability to command the attention of a crowd whether he’s performing solo, or with his full band.

With an eclectic list of key influences, including Keith Urban, The War on Drugs, Elvis Presley and Powderfinger, Woody’s musical appreciation transcends across generations and spreads across the entire spectrum of popular music. Inspiration that filters through into his creative process.

With all the talent & charisma in the world... and the music to match, you can expect to see the name Woody Pitney up in lights for many years to come.

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country-pop

folk

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